Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, who replaced injured David Warner in the third ODI, has revealed that he received words of encouragement from Indian batsman KL Rahul when he arrived at the crease for the first time in international cricket. The talented young all-rounder made his international debut in the final ODI against India on Wednesday. Green, who had batted at number seven in List A games, came into bat at number five when Australia still needed 186 runs to win.
“I was actually taken aback by how nice KL Rahul was behind the stumps. I think he asked me if I was nervous or not and I just replied saying ‘yeah obviously a little bit nervous’ and he just said ‘go well, youngster’,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Green as saying.
“I thought it would have been the opposite. I think Virat [Kohli] was trying to be pretty loud at the time. I was a bit taken aback by how nice that was. I’ll remember that forever,” he added.
Green, who failed to take his side over the line, appreciated the “quality” of the Indian team’s spin attack and praised Ravindra Jadeja‘s “beautiful” bowling.
The all-rounder also said that no amount of research done off the field can help a batsman understand how Indian spinners bowl.
“They’re class bowlers, especially their spinners. I haven’t faced quality like that. Jadeja is just a beautiful bowler who knows exactly what he’s trying to do. Trying to spin a couple away from you and dart one back in. It was class bowling,” said Green.
“You can do as much research and watch as much footage as you can, which I did, to get a better understanding of how they bowled, but it’s a different beast when you’re actually facing them out in the middle. It took me a couple of overs to get used to it. But I take a lot out of it,” he added.
Promoted
The Aaron Finch-led Australian team on Wednesday moved to the top of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League points table after winning the three-match series against India 2-1.
Now, both the sides will lock horns in the three-match T20I series, which gets underway on Friday.
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